LOS ANGELES (oc).– Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, knoe to blow his share of smoke, said Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels should resolve their conflict peacefully because there is only a political settlement. Is that what Abbas tells his handlers in Tehran about the conflict with the United States? What kind of poppycock is it to say Houthis decided to block Saudi commercial ships en route to the Suez Canal, a normal trade route from the Mideast to Europe where Saudi Arab delivers its oil and natural gas. Why should the Houthis arbitrarily decided to prevent Saudi commercial ships from delivering cargo to the ports of their choice. Abbas makes it out like Saudi Arabia had anything to do Iran ordering the Houthi proxy group to block shipment of oil and gas products to western Europe. Iran’s mullah government decided to interfere witih Saudi’s ordinary trade routes.
Onc thing Iran’s IRGC doesn’t want is for commercial shippers to bypass the Hormuz Strait and take and alternative route to deliver oil and natural gas to Europe. Whether admitted to or not, what the IRGC really wants is to charge fees for transiting the Hormuz Strait, an ordinary, free trade route through the Persian Gulf. No oil producting nation wants to pay Iran transit fees because they assert sovereignty over the Hormuz Strait. President Donald Trump has been battling with Iran in an active war so that the IRGC reopens unimpeded access to the Hormuz Strait, like it was before the Feb. 28 war. Aragchi acts like he doesn’t know what’s happening in the Strait or Hormuz or Bab el-Mandeb Strait where Houthis operate like Somali pirates, seizing any cargo they see fit. Arachi know that Saud Arabia isn’t responsible for blocking trade routes through Yemen.
Saudi Arbia has been at war with Houthi rebels for years, with Houthis firing missiles anywhere from the Sauid International Airport to Aramco’s key oil refineries. So when it comes to Houthis lashing out at Saudi Arabia, it’s easy from them to do Aragchin know his government approves and orders the Houthis to give the Saudis a hard time. Aragchi acts like Iran has nothing to do with the dispute between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is fed up with the Houthis and ready to resolve the dispute with firepower, not sitting around a table. Why should Bin Salman give any credibility to the Houthis when they operate a a terror wing to Iran. Iran likes to use its proxy terror group to push other countries around when they have no right to bully any other country. Bin Salman is ready for war with the Houthis not peace talks.
Trump is ready to provide assistance to Bin Salman when it’s the right time. At the momen, Trump is trying to go along with peace talks after 13 nights of bombing and Iran retalizatin with drone and missle strikes. Trump know that the U.S. has been buring through munitions at a record pace, requiring the Pentagon to pause the war unil it gets caught up with munition stockpiles. Unlike Iran, it takes the U.S. far longer to replenish the knds of munitions used by the U.S. military in the Mideast. Iran’s drone and missile factories run 24/7, taking far less time to replenish munition stockpiles. Fighting a guerrilla-style war using primariy drones and missiles taks far less capital than commanding two carrier task group where more costly weapns are needed to defend U.S. naval assets. Iran can keep firing drones and missiles when the Ul.S. can’t keep up the pace.
If Aragchin has any clout at all, which he doesn’t, he;d be calling off the dogs in Sanaa, where Houth headquarters decided to get into the scrum. Houthis and Saudi Arabia have much unfinished business, where Houthis rebels, at Iran’s orders, fired on Saudi King Faud Airiport and Aramco oil facilities. Bin Salman wants no excuses coming from Tehran who uses the Houthis as just another terror group for hire. Arachi and other members on the mullah government have no power at all to affect IRGC policy, now run by Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, a puppet of the IRGC. Trump hasn’t yet accepted that all the diplomacy through the Pakistanis and Qataris take their orders from the IRGC, not from the feckless mullah government in Tehran. Trump may need to reload but he must recognize that the mullah government in Tehran no longer has power.
Iran’s Tehran-based mullah government is titular only, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei taking his orders from IRGC leaders Brig. Gem/; Ahmed Vahidi. Vahid wants sovereignty over the Hormuz Strait so he can charge exorbitant fees for tranisiting the Strait, much like a turnpike with fees in the millions. Trump won’t talke Vahidi out of his revenue generating play either by diplomacy or physical force. Trump has worried from the beginning of the war Feb 28 about U.S. casualties, knowing Democrats and fake news would used U.S. losses to make a case for the 2026 Midterms. Trump has kept casualties to a minum but that still isn’t goot enough for for the fake news. Trump’s only path to winning in the Strait of Hormuz is neutralizing the IRGC, a slippery terror group capable to adapting and surviving under the most dire conditions.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlinColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
